The present invention relates generally to protective mouthguards for use in athletics and more particularly, to a boiling and stabilization tray which will assist in heating, positioning and aligning a thermoplastic mouthguard to custom fit a user's mouth.
A number of mouthguards currently exist in the art for protecting the teeth and for reducing the chance of shock, concussions and other injuries as a result of high impact collisions and blows during athletic competition. Mouthguards generally are characterized as being nonpersonalized, universal and stock model type, or are customized to have direct upper jaw tooth-formed contact. Additionally, the mouthguards may be tethered or untethered. Mouthguards that are to be tethered may be fastened to a helmet or face guard to prevent the chance of the mouthguard from being lost as well as to prevent swallowing of the mouthguard or choking on the mouthguard by the user. Custom mouthguards that are personalized for the individual wearer or user may be created by technicians, practitioners or dentists. Alternatively, users, as well as dentists, may create custom fit mouthguards to have direct contact with the teeth, gums and jaws by way of the boil-and-bite method. Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) material works suitably well as a thermoplastic material for mouthguards. The EVA mouthguard will readily soften when submerged in boiling water momentarily afterwhich the mouthguard may be removed and fitted about the user's upper jaw, teeth and gums afterwhich the user applies contact pressure as well as suction to custom fit the mouthguard to the upper jaw.
The most common problem with EVA-like material mouthguards that are to be heated and then fitted to the user is that the heated mouthguards become limp and completely lose their shape upon heating. A heated, limp mouthguard is difficult to fit within the user's mouth and quickly form about the user's upper jaw in a timely fashion before the EVA-like material becomes stiff or hard. This problem becomes even more heightened when the particular mouthguard design is further customized to have additional features, such as occlusal pads, or an anterior impact brace which must be properly aligned and positioned.
Further still, dentists, team doctors, practitioners and equipment personnel have had an increasing concern for the temporo mandibular joint (TMJ) and protecting the TMJ from injury. Consequently, the alignment and positioning of the lower jaw and indexing of the lower jaw upon the softened mouthguard to be formed have all recently been receiving additional attention and consideration.
There is a need for a boiling and stabilization tray for use in heating, positioning and aligning thermoplastic mouthguards to custom fit a user's mouth. The tray should receive and support the mouthguard for heating and further permit quick and accurate positioning and aligning of the heated and softened thermoplastic mouthguard to permit custom fitting with respect to all of the above mouthguard features.